June 30, 2011
O Liberal
Between 2000 and 2010, Paraupaebas and Moju, two municipalities covered by the Vale Literacy program, enjoyed a bigger drop in the illiteracy rate than that experienced in Brazil as a whole and in the state of Pará, according to data from the country’s official census of 2010. The two municipalities are among those covered by Vale Literacy, which the Vale Foundation has been running for ten years, as well as the Literacy Solidarity program, which is aimed at young people over the age of 15 and adults who are illiterate or largely uneducated.
In Parauapebas, where Vale operates Carajás Mine, the world’s largest open-pit iron ore mine, the illiteracy rate fell by 50.3% between 2000 and 2010. This fall took place faster than the Brazilian government’s target of halving illiteracy by 2015, a commitment it made at the international Education for All conference in Dakar in 2000. During this period, 4,264 people completed Vale Literacy’s course on reading and writing in Parauapebas.
In Moju, another municipality in Pará, where Vale is carrying out a biodiesel project, 1,565 people completed Vale Literacy’s initial course on reading and writing between 2000 and 2010, and the illiteracy rate declined by 37.5%, above the average fall in Brazil and Pará. The 2010 census shows that, since 2000, the illiteracy rate has fallen by nearly 30% in the country, from 13.6% to 9.6%. Illiteracy is still a challenge, but actions such as those of Vale Literacy are helping education for young people and adults to move forwards.
Across the whole of Brazil, Vale Literacy has now benefitted 123,869 students. In addition, the program has trained 4,782 literacy instructors and 200 public-sector school teachers who educate young people and adults.